Superman

Now Ballard can no longer say 'we've never used it before.' That's the only negative thing about this situation. Pittman said weeks ago that he wanted to test his market. The only way for him to do that was to force the tag. I thought Ballard would be motivated to get a deal done before the deadline, and I think he was, but it seems like Pittman really wanted the opportunity to talk numbers with other teams. No one is signing him to an offer sheet, but if someone really wants to meet his number, whatever it is, and is willing to make a trade offer to the Colts, maybe they'll consider it. But more likely, no one will make him an offer, and eventually he'll sign a deal with the Colts. By the way, for people freaking out because the Colts used the non-exclusive tag, this is the tag that's almost always used on non QBs. I think the last player to receive the exclusive tag was LeVeon Bell in 2018. Yet, players who get the non-exclusive tag almost never change teams. Even Lamar Jackson got the non-exclusive tag last year, and no one offers two first rounders, and he got a long term deal with the Ravens. Another thing Ballard likes to say: 'It's a tool.' And that's what we're seeing right now.

They still don't appear to like him all that much, if he's playing 38% of offensive snaps. Before Ogletree's situation, he only had three games above 50%. He's basically a backup, but easily our highest paid TE, and believe or not still a top 20 paid TE in the league. He's not dragging our cap down, but we're not getting much out of him either way. This is the year where there's no cap ramification for releasing him, but I guess we'll see.

I tried to learn a lesson from McNary. When the report came out that when the police showed up, his response was 'I know why you're here,' that seemed damning to me. As it turns out, he was found not guilty, apparently the accuser's story was found to be inconsistent, the verdict came quickly, and the prosecutor even said the jury did their job. I don't know what happened in that situation either, and won't pretend to. But sometimes it's best to withhold judgment until more facts can be considered.

If a player were accused of something, and the team responded by releasing him, and then put out a statement about how they want good people on the roster and said player doesn't meet that criteria, etc... The player gets exonerated, and then sues the team for defamation. I get that. It's also a simple enough trap to avoid, and if you have house counsel and they let you put out a release like that without having concrete evidence, then your organization is in bad shape.

Holder has a tweet saying that was not the case here. He says the dismissal was the result of further investigation, not a lack of cooperation. Also, this was not a civil case. Ogletree was being charged by the DA's office. The accuser would not have the option to dismiss the charges, that would only be done by the prosecution team or by the judge.

Having Ogletree wouldn't stop me from drafting Bowers. I don't know why MAC stays on the roster. He's not making a ton of money, but he plays 38% of offensive snaps, and he's not a difference maker in any aspect of the game.

The deadline is still more than two hours away. Btw I expect them to get a deal done, but there's still plenty of time for the Colts to use the tag.

Yeah, a player could file suit. My point is I don't think it would go anywhere because the suit would have no standing. I understand that a person might choose to settle a seemingly frivolous lawsuit for pragmatic reasons. I don't think the NFL or any individual team would respond that way. Based on my very limited understanding, there is no standing for a player to bring suit against a team if the team released the player during a legal issue, even if the player was completely exonerated. In your other example, there are other considerations, like discrimination. That would be a different story, but it doesn't seem relevant to this discussion.

I watched some of Turner, he was almost always in a two point stance, and has little to no pass rush moves. It's just speed and some bend to beat blockers, but once they engage with him, he's mostly losing the rep. And he's not very good against the run. I don't mind having a hybrid pass rusher with freakish traits, but I don't think he fits what the Colts want at DE as a player. Ngakoue was a productive pass rusher, and they let him walk after one year. Ebukam is better against the run.

I don't know how a player files against a team for releasing him, unless the team is accusing the player of some kind of violation. And that would be a tricky situation, which could include a lot of variables. Generally speaking, a team does not have to provide a reason for releasing a player. The team might be contractually obligated to pay the player, but that doesn't mean they have to keep the player on the roster.

Oh, that could be a blind spot at DE, especially if they're including 3-4 DEs.

Based on some of the stuff I'm reading, it seems as close to exoneration as anyone could expect. It sounds like the full investigation uncovered evidence that was not initially considered. And it doesn't sound like the accuser suddenly decided to stop cooperating with the investigation. I won't pretend to know what happened, and I'm not passing judgment on anyone involved. But for Ogletree, this outcome is about the best he could have hoped for, from a legal standpoint and probably from a career standpoint.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39659039/colts-te-drew-ogletree-domestic-violence-charges-dropped In another tweet, Holder says the dismissal wasn't the result of a lack of cooperation, but from further investigation.

I thought Arnold would be 4.45-4.5, so pretty close. I think he's really instinctual and positions himself well, and he can contest at the high point. I really like him, but never thought he fit Ballard's profile. I really like Mitchell also, he seems longer to me... There are a lot of later round guys with longer arms, but it looks like a lot of them project as safeties in the NFL.

Mod note: The last thread on this topic was locked because the discussion veered way off course. Please respect the site rules, and one another. https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/docs-charges-against-indianapolis-colts-te-andrew-ogletree-dismissed-with-prejudice/ It will be interesting to see how the NFL handles this moving forward, and what the Colts choose to do. Right now, Ogletree is on the exempt list. I would assume the NFL will go over whatever information is available to them, and decide whether any suspension is warranted. But 'dismissed with prejudice' might mean that there is no case to be made.

I looked them up, did I have them backward? Edit: I guess I got mixed up on Mitchell. I thought he had 33" arms.

Whoops! My bad...

I don't think it's that hard. The question is how much you're willing to pay -- contract, draft comp, etc. Regardless, my point is that's what the goal should be. No one is worried about what we do at WR4, so hearing Ballard spend all that time talking about it wasn't encouraging to me. And I don't mean to make a huge deal out of Ballard going into detail about WR4 when he's mostly talking about a player he likes and how it affects roster mechanics. I don't think he said anything that was wrong. But it's like talking to your spouse about getting a really nice car, and they start sending you links to used Corollas.

Since you asked... His RAS score is actually higher than I thought it would be, based on his size and length. That 40 time and his splits are doing a lot to help bump it up.

Agreed overall, but I think if the Colts were targeting Stroud last year, and he was still there at #3, they would have traded up. They didn't trade up for Richardson because they were confident he'd still be there at #4, but they thought about it, and probably had the conversations with the Cardinals beforehand. But yeah, in general, I don't think Ballard is that interested in trading up. And I think this year that probably works in his favor, based on how it looks like the top of the draft will go.

I hate his throwing motion, LOL. I can handle a left handed passer, and I can handle a 3/4 passer, but both at the same time?? 🤢

I'd cross Latu off the list for the Colts. He's older, his explosive testing is below average, arm length is below average, and he has a rough medical history.

I think Arnold is really good, but I don't think he meets the Colts physical baselines. If we're talking first round, I think Mitchell would be the most obvious target. Edit: We'll see what Kool-Aid's medical looks like, but I felt like he was the Ballard prototype at corner.

We'll see if Ballard is different now than he was a couple seasons ago. We have a young, playmaking QB under contract, and a favorable cap situation. We have an obvious need at an important position. I'm not crazy about hearing Ballard go so in depth on what he wants at WR4 when the true need is at WR1. But what really matters is what happens in FA and the draft, not necessarily what he says in a radio interview.

He specifically talked about Dulin being able to fill the WR4 spot, which is what made me cringe. And I get why he says that about Dulin, his versatility and ability to play STs is important, compared to Pierce, for example, who I don't know if he's ever played a big role on STs and he's not as versatile on offense. I'm fine with having a spot on the roster for guys like Dulin, they can be important over the course of a season. But he doesn't improve our WR room in the way we need, even if he's healthy all year. We need someone who can be better than MPJ, even if we're keeping MPJ. That guy is probably not on our roster right now, and I don't know where he's coming from. But when we're talking about needing help at WR, I don't really want to hear the GM talking about WR4.